Greggs introduces ‘healthy’ pasties in lower calorie drive

Published:11:59Monday 12 September 2016

Those who relish the greasy-lipped indulgence of a fatty Greggs treat, look away now. For the UK’s largest bakery chain has doubled down on its healthier offerings, unveiling a new sourdough pasty, made with shortcrust pastry and a crumb topping.

This new healthier pasty will not use the buttery puff pastry so beloved of the melt-in-the-mouth sausage roll and rich steak bake. So selective diners can forget those flaky moustaches and opt instead for chicken katsu or Bombay potato fillings, with flavours inspired from around the globe.

They are being added to its new “balanced choice” options, which also include salads and fruity yoghurts – frequent partakers of Greggs recoiled in horror when these first hit the shelves. However, this year they accounted for ten per cent of sales.

Roger Whiteside, the group’s chief executive officer, said: “Greggs is well-loved for its traditional pasties and sausage rolls, but we recognise that our customers are increasingly looking for lower calorie and lower fat options.”

These pasties are under 300 calories and appeal to the new Food Standards Agency traffic light system – meeting green or amber instead of an angry red.

So much so that after Greggs posted an increase in profit in the first half of this year, Mr Whiteside said he was thinking about expanding into sushi and Mexican food.

He’s not joking about Greggs being “well-loved” either – when people love Greggs, they really love Greggs. A quick scan through their Facebook page shows anger is already mounting over the changed recipe for the Cheese and Onion pasty, as well as residual ire over the altered vegetable pasty taste.

Last year a campaign to bring back the Greggs macaroni pie gained hundreds of supporters.